Disclaimer: As much as I love poking at Rutgers, I resisted doing so in this review (it took every ounce of my self control). Rutgers had a great year so I’ll let others sink their cruise liner this time.
Edit: now that this is a preview instead of a review, I'll poke just a little bit.
Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights had their best NCAA placement ever, finishing 9th with 51.5 points on the strength of their first two individual national champions, Nick Suriano and Anthony Ashnault. Rutgers had a 12-6 dual record with their biggest wins coming against Wisconsin and Princeton. They also came within 10 points of beating Utah Valley. Rutgers finished 9th at Cliff Keen and 8th at the Big 10 Championships.
Rutgers loses a lot of points with Ashnault but they do return their other national champion, Nick Suriano and two of their other four qualifiers from last season. While Rutgers will probably sink back out of their perennial top 10 position this season, they do have a very good incoming freshman class that may keep them ahead of Minnesota. Rutgers hasn’t released their full schedule yet, but it has been announced that they will be going to the Southern Scuffle and have matches against Cornell, Princeton, Fresno State and CSUB.
<This one was tough to put together because there are a lot of different options at several weight classes and several of their incoming freshmen are good enough to be immediate starters.>
125
Shane Metzler (Jr) <West Morris, NJ>
Nick Aguilar (Fr) <Gilroy, CA>
Sammy Alvarez (Fr) <St. Joseph Montvale, NJ>
Metzler moved in as the starter for 125 last season when Suriano moved up to 133. Metzler had a tough season going 10-18 with no wins against NCAA qualifiers. He didn’t place at the Big Ten Championships. <Bonus: 17.9%, RPI: .527>
Aguilar may displace Metzler as the starter this season. As a redshirt last season he went 7-7 (all of his losses were by decision) and had one win against a NCAA qualifier, Gage Curry (Amer).
Or does Rutgers start true freshman Sammy Alvarez? Alvarez is a three-time New Jersey state finalist, winning the championship at 126 in 2019 over Robbie Howard. He's ranked #13 at 126 by InterMat.
133
Nick Suriano (Sr) <Bergen Catholic, NJ>
Last season, Suriano’s decision to flee Lee paid off, as he went 29-3 overall and captured his first (and Rutgers first) national championship from the 3 seed. While his final against Fix wasn’t exactly thrilling (that’s the nicest I can phrase it), his critics are probably a little too hard on him regarding his defensive style of wrestling. Suriano had a 62.5% bonus rate on the season which was actually higher than Yianni Diakomihalis. With Rutgers announcing that they will be attending the Southern Scuffle, there’s a possibility of a Suriano-Fix rematch. I’m really hoping Fix takes an Olympic redshirt. <Bonus: 62.5%, RPI: .707>
141
Peter Lipari (Sr) <Bergen Catholic, NJ>
Zach Firestone (Jr) <Clearfield Regional, NJ>
JoJo Aragona (Fr) <Pope John XXIII, NJ>
Lipari went 13-14 overall and squeaked into the tournament as the 33 seed, going 1-2. His biggest win was against Nate Limmex (Pur), beating him for 9th place and the final automatic qualification at the Big 10 Championships (Limmex received an at-large bid). <Bonus: 11.1%, RPI: .583>
Firestone missed last season due to injury. In 2017/18 he went 20-4 as a redshirt @133. All four of his losses were to NCAA qualifiers.
This is another weight where a true freshman could potentially start. Aragona won the New Jersey state championship @138 and the Beast of the East his senior season.
149
Mike Van Brill (Sr) <Clearview, NJ>
Nick Santos (So) <St. Peter’s Prep, NJ>
Ryan Vulakh (Fr) <Pope John II, PA>
Van Brill went 5-7 last season filling in at 141 in several duals and finished the season at 157. He was the 141 starter in 17/18 and went 15-14 (didn’t qualify for NCAAs).
Santos missed last season due to injury. In 17/18, he went 20-8 mostly in tournaments (no wins against NCAA qualifiers).
Vulakh could potentially slot in at 149 if he doesn’t redshirt. He won the PIAA (AAA) State Championship @152 in 2019 and finished 3rd @145 in 2018 (lost to Sammy Sasso). Vulakh is ranked #3 at 152 by InterMat.
Anthony Ashnault came back from a lost season due to injury, moved up a weight class and ran the table (32-0) on his way to a national championship. This really was one of the great stories for last season. The national championship capped off a great career for Ashnault as he also finished 8th in 2015, 4th in 2016 and 6th in 2017 @141. His 123 career wins are the most in Rutgers history.
157
Stephan Glasgow (So) <Bound Brook, NJ>
Robert Kanniard (Fr) <Wall Township, NJ>
Glasgow may drop back down to 157 after a rough experience at 165 last season where he went 7-9 and 1-2 at the Big 10 Championships. If he doesn’t drop down, then it looks like 157 will be manned by yet another true freshman.
Kanniard won the New Jersey state championship @160 last season. He placed 2nd at 160 in 2018 and 4th @152 in 2017. Kanniard is ranked #6 at 160 by InterMat.
Last season, outgoing senior John Van Brill qualified for the NCAAs for a 3rd time going 21-16 overall and 2-2 in the tournament from the 16 seed. He had the misfortune of running into Jason Nolf in the 2nd round where Nolf did a very good impersonation of a grizzly bear mauling his prey.
165
Brett Donner (Jr) <Wall, NJ>
Anthony Oliveri (Jr) <Hanover Park, NJ>
Donner went 7-4 at opens last season (no notable wins). Oliveri went 4-10 last season mostly at 174 but also filled in at some dual meets at 165 and 184.
174
Joseph Grello (Jr) <Bergen Catholic, NJ>
Grello qualified for his first NCAA championship, going 18-11 overall and 2-2 in the tournament from the 29 seed. After dropping a 3-8 decision to Myles Amine in the first round, Grello upset #13 Brit Wilson (NIU) and #14 Kimball Bastian (UVU) before dropping a 3-7 decision to David McFadden (VT). <Bonus: 27.6%, RPI: .589>
184
Billy Janzer (Fr) <Delsea, NJ>
Janzer had a pretty good redshirt freshman season going 15-4 including a win over qualifier Tanner Harvey (American).
Last season, Nicholas Gravina had a rough go coming back from injury in his final season. He did qualify for the 4th time (finishing 6th at the Big Ten Championships) but went 6-5 overall and 0-2 in the tournament from the 21 seed.
197
Matt Correnti (Jr) <Holy Cross Academy, NJ>
Jordan Pagano (Sr) <Bergen Catholic, NJ>
After taking a redshirt season where he wrestled at heavyweight, Correnti went back down to 197 going 12-15 and didn’t qualify for the tournament (he went 0-2 at the Big 10 Championships). He did have one win against a qualifier, Ethan Laird (Rider). Correnti qualified for the NCAA tournament @197 his true freshman year in 2016-17. <Bonus: 3.7%, RPI: .565>
Former qualifier (@174) in 2017 and former Nittany Lion Jordan Pagano began last season as the 184 starter before suffering a season ending injury. Pagano was granted a 6th year and is eligible to wrestle in 19/20.
Heavy
Christian Colucci (Sr) <St. Peter’s Prep, NJ>
Colucci went 15-13 for the season and didn’t qualify for the tournament. He went 1-2 and didn’t place at the Big 10 Championships. Colucci had two wins against NCAA qualifiers, Cary Miller (App St) and Jacob Aven (Pur). <Bonus: 17.9%, RPI: .584>
New Faces
Rutgers has brought in quite a haul for the 2019 class, with six top-20 in weight class wrestlers. Several of which could potentially start as true freshmen.
Sammy Alvarez <St. Joseph Montvale, NJ>
Listed above at 125.
JoJo Aragona <Pope John XXIII, NJ>
Listed above at 141.
Ryan Vulakh <Pope John II, PA>
Listed above at 149.
Robert Kanniard <Wall Township, NJ>
Listed above at 157.
Jackson Turley <St. Christopher’s VA>
Turley is a 4-time Virginia state champion, winning at 182 his senior season. He also was the National Prep champion his senior year after two runner-up finishes. He has said that he plans on wrestling at 174 for Rutgers. Turley is ranked #6 at 182 by InterMat.
Zack DelVecchio <South Plainfield, NJ>
DelVecchio (brother of former Rutgers wrestler Zach) won the New Jersey state championship @220 his senior season. He is ranked #8 at 220 by InterMat.
Edit: now that this is a preview instead of a review, I'll poke just a little bit.
Rutgers
The Scarlet Knights had their best NCAA placement ever, finishing 9th with 51.5 points on the strength of their first two individual national champions, Nick Suriano and Anthony Ashnault. Rutgers had a 12-6 dual record with their biggest wins coming against Wisconsin and Princeton. They also came within 10 points of beating Utah Valley. Rutgers finished 9th at Cliff Keen and 8th at the Big 10 Championships.
Rutgers loses a lot of points with Ashnault but they do return their other national champion, Nick Suriano and two of their other four qualifiers from last season. While Rutgers will probably sink back out of their perennial top 10 position this season, they do have a very good incoming freshman class that may keep them ahead of Minnesota. Rutgers hasn’t released their full schedule yet, but it has been announced that they will be going to the Southern Scuffle and have matches against Cornell, Princeton, Fresno State and CSUB.
<This one was tough to put together because there are a lot of different options at several weight classes and several of their incoming freshmen are good enough to be immediate starters.>
125
Shane Metzler (Jr) <West Morris, NJ>
Nick Aguilar (Fr) <Gilroy, CA>
Sammy Alvarez (Fr) <St. Joseph Montvale, NJ>
Metzler moved in as the starter for 125 last season when Suriano moved up to 133. Metzler had a tough season going 10-18 with no wins against NCAA qualifiers. He didn’t place at the Big Ten Championships. <Bonus: 17.9%, RPI: .527>
Aguilar may displace Metzler as the starter this season. As a redshirt last season he went 7-7 (all of his losses were by decision) and had one win against a NCAA qualifier, Gage Curry (Amer).
Or does Rutgers start true freshman Sammy Alvarez? Alvarez is a three-time New Jersey state finalist, winning the championship at 126 in 2019 over Robbie Howard. He's ranked #13 at 126 by InterMat.
133
Nick Suriano (Sr) <Bergen Catholic, NJ>
Last season, Suriano’s decision to flee Lee paid off, as he went 29-3 overall and captured his first (and Rutgers first) national championship from the 3 seed. While his final against Fix wasn’t exactly thrilling (that’s the nicest I can phrase it), his critics are probably a little too hard on him regarding his defensive style of wrestling. Suriano had a 62.5% bonus rate on the season which was actually higher than Yianni Diakomihalis. With Rutgers announcing that they will be attending the Southern Scuffle, there’s a possibility of a Suriano-Fix rematch. I’m really hoping Fix takes an Olympic redshirt. <Bonus: 62.5%, RPI: .707>
141
Peter Lipari (Sr) <Bergen Catholic, NJ>
Zach Firestone (Jr) <Clearfield Regional, NJ>
JoJo Aragona (Fr) <Pope John XXIII, NJ>
Lipari went 13-14 overall and squeaked into the tournament as the 33 seed, going 1-2. His biggest win was against Nate Limmex (Pur), beating him for 9th place and the final automatic qualification at the Big 10 Championships (Limmex received an at-large bid). <Bonus: 11.1%, RPI: .583>
Firestone missed last season due to injury. In 2017/18 he went 20-4 as a redshirt @133. All four of his losses were to NCAA qualifiers.
This is another weight where a true freshman could potentially start. Aragona won the New Jersey state championship @138 and the Beast of the East his senior season.
149
Mike Van Brill (Sr) <Clearview, NJ>
Nick Santos (So) <St. Peter’s Prep, NJ>
Ryan Vulakh (Fr) <Pope John II, PA>
Van Brill went 5-7 last season filling in at 141 in several duals and finished the season at 157. He was the 141 starter in 17/18 and went 15-14 (didn’t qualify for NCAAs).
Santos missed last season due to injury. In 17/18, he went 20-8 mostly in tournaments (no wins against NCAA qualifiers).
Vulakh could potentially slot in at 149 if he doesn’t redshirt. He won the PIAA (AAA) State Championship @152 in 2019 and finished 3rd @145 in 2018 (lost to Sammy Sasso). Vulakh is ranked #3 at 152 by InterMat.
Anthony Ashnault came back from a lost season due to injury, moved up a weight class and ran the table (32-0) on his way to a national championship. This really was one of the great stories for last season. The national championship capped off a great career for Ashnault as he also finished 8th in 2015, 4th in 2016 and 6th in 2017 @141. His 123 career wins are the most in Rutgers history.
157
Robert Kanniard (Fr) <Wall Township, NJ>
Glasgow may drop back down to 157 after a rough experience at 165 last season where he went 7-9 and 1-2 at the Big 10 Championships. If he doesn’t drop down, then it looks like 157 will be manned by yet another true freshman.
Kanniard won the New Jersey state championship @160 last season. He placed 2nd at 160 in 2018 and 4th @152 in 2017. Kanniard is ranked #6 at 160 by InterMat.
Last season, outgoing senior John Van Brill qualified for the NCAAs for a 3rd time going 21-16 overall and 2-2 in the tournament from the 16 seed. He had the misfortune of running into Jason Nolf in the 2nd round where Nolf did a very good impersonation of a grizzly bear mauling his prey.
165
Brett Donner (Jr) <Wall, NJ>
Anthony Oliveri (Jr) <Hanover Park, NJ>
Donner went 7-4 at opens last season (no notable wins). Oliveri went 4-10 last season mostly at 174 but also filled in at some dual meets at 165 and 184.
174
Joseph Grello (Jr) <Bergen Catholic, NJ>
Grello qualified for his first NCAA championship, going 18-11 overall and 2-2 in the tournament from the 29 seed. After dropping a 3-8 decision to Myles Amine in the first round, Grello upset #13 Brit Wilson (NIU) and #14 Kimball Bastian (UVU) before dropping a 3-7 decision to David McFadden (VT). <Bonus: 27.6%, RPI: .589>
184
Billy Janzer (Fr) <Delsea, NJ>
Janzer had a pretty good redshirt freshman season going 15-4 including a win over qualifier Tanner Harvey (American).
Last season, Nicholas Gravina had a rough go coming back from injury in his final season. He did qualify for the 4th time (finishing 6th at the Big Ten Championships) but went 6-5 overall and 0-2 in the tournament from the 21 seed.
197
Matt Correnti (Jr) <Holy Cross Academy, NJ>
Jordan Pagano (Sr) <Bergen Catholic, NJ>
After taking a redshirt season where he wrestled at heavyweight, Correnti went back down to 197 going 12-15 and didn’t qualify for the tournament (he went 0-2 at the Big 10 Championships). He did have one win against a qualifier, Ethan Laird (Rider). Correnti qualified for the NCAA tournament @197 his true freshman year in 2016-17. <Bonus: 3.7%, RPI: .565>
Former qualifier (@174) in 2017 and former Nittany Lion Jordan Pagano began last season as the 184 starter before suffering a season ending injury. Pagano was granted a 6th year and is eligible to wrestle in 19/20.
Heavy
Christian Colucci (Sr) <St. Peter’s Prep, NJ>
Colucci went 15-13 for the season and didn’t qualify for the tournament. He went 1-2 and didn’t place at the Big 10 Championships. Colucci had two wins against NCAA qualifiers, Cary Miller (App St) and Jacob Aven (Pur). <Bonus: 17.9%, RPI: .584>
New Faces
Rutgers has brought in quite a haul for the 2019 class, with six top-20 in weight class wrestlers. Several of which could potentially start as true freshmen.
Sammy Alvarez <St. Joseph Montvale, NJ>
Listed above at 125.
JoJo Aragona <Pope John XXIII, NJ>
Listed above at 141.
Ryan Vulakh <Pope John II, PA>
Listed above at 149.
Robert Kanniard <Wall Township, NJ>
Listed above at 157.
Jackson Turley <St. Christopher’s VA>
Turley is a 4-time Virginia state champion, winning at 182 his senior season. He also was the National Prep champion his senior year after two runner-up finishes. He has said that he plans on wrestling at 174 for Rutgers. Turley is ranked #6 at 182 by InterMat.
Zack DelVecchio <South Plainfield, NJ>
DelVecchio (brother of former Rutgers wrestler Zach) won the New Jersey state championship @220 his senior season. He is ranked #8 at 220 by InterMat.
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